Quote:
Originally Posted by SmoothG
“The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still purely primitive, legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation, no matter how subtle, can change this for me.”
Part of an Albert Einstein letter that recently sold for $3mil.
My opinion is...believe in whatever you want as long as it doesn’t harm anyone and you don’t try to push it your beliefs on anyone else. Belief in Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc are all equally ridiculous to me. But if that’s your thing, whatever. It’s just a shame that religion drives so many policies and laws in America. To me it’s an archaic, unnecessary part of modern society. But if you want to cherry pick stories and morals from ancient texts (based largely on where and when your were born) - and apply them to the modern world instead of interpreting these texts literally...I understand...because some of that stuff is insane.
Instead of doing good things because you think you’ll be rewarded with heaven...or not doing bad shit out of fear and guilt of being punished and going to hell by some imaginary being...how about we just do good stuff (and not so bad stuff) because as a society we have come to a social agreement on what is best for everyone.
I don’t know. Believe whatever you want. Religion just seems a waste of time. Some decent stories and morals I guess - but none that can’t be found elsewhere in literature and society.
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I would suggest taking the eternal profit motive out of religion for a moment because as a fairly religious person I suppose it really never crosses my mind.
To believe in God is to love God, and want to be with and worship God. So spending time in church doing just that is really fulfilling. I don’t do it for the big heavenly payoff, though I do believe that one should spend time in church if you are a Christian.
As to a waste of time, let me tell you about that time.
I go to church with my family (my boy and fiancé), so it’s spending time with them. During mass, I love the music, the scriptures messages are interesting and very applicable to my everyday life as I think about being the best person I can be. It’s over an hour of not thinking about your day to day problems, very relaxing and meditative. I really love this time.
After church we are all together. Might get breakfast or go watch football.
Being a member of my church also provides a good way for me give back. I just turned in my angel tree present, a Christmas gift for a 6 year old with her parent in prison. We did the thanksgiving food drive, and other food drives, and I make funeral meals for families in need. Plus there are other opportunities. And yeah, I’m also a state coordinator for a cancer group outside of my church so I know there are plenty of ways give back outside of religious institutions nut this is also a great way.
All the point being, think of it as a lifestyle not just a collection of stories. And fear of going to hell isnt at the forefront of my thinking every waking moment and the cause of everything I do. I do my acts of charity because of my conscience and modeling good behavior as the leader of my family. If someone is only doing their good deeds for the wrong reasons as you state, I don’t think they’d last long.
And, when I think about all of this, it doesn’t feel like a waste of time at all. I get more of out it than I put in. And in the end, if if I just die and that’s it I’ll still be fine with how I’ve lived my life. Win-win.